Books of 2011! - Part 2

Continuing my annotated list of the books I read in 2011...
Click here for Part 1

What were your favorite books in 2011?

26. 44 Scotland Street – Alexander McCall Smith (First in this great series; follows the lives and misadventures of several Edinburgh residents; Smith has a knack for the ridiculous and the profound; HIGHLY recommended)
27. Espresso Tales – Alexander McCall Smith (second in series; just as good as the first; short chapters)
28. King Leopold’s Ghost: A story of greed, terror, and heroism in Colonial Africa – Adam Hochschild (read this in Africa; follows the terrors of colonialism in the Congo and also the campaign against the rubber trade; helps explain the mess in Congo currently)
29. Love Over Scotland – Alexander McCall Smith (third book in series)
30. (e) Carrot Cake Murder – Joanne Fluke (more small-town MN fun! Boyd shudders whenever he hears these stories coming from my computer)
31. A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan (Good literary fiction; collection of short stories that all fit together; considers relationships, music, New York)
32. The Widow’s Walk League (Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries) – Nancy Lynn Jarvis (opens with Halloween scene in downtown Santa Cruz; decent mystery, even if dialog falls somewhat short)
33. The Cater Street Hangman – Anne Perry (so excited to find this Victorian mystery series!; captures life of an upper class Victorian family when it’s forced to come into contact with lowly police investigators; love the audiobook narrator)
34. (e) Callendar Square – Anne Perry (next in Perry series; just as good as the first)
35. The World According to Bertie – Alexander McCall Smith (next in Smith series; Bertie is a precocious young boy with a hilariously crazy mother)
36. Simply Christian: Why Christianity makes sense – N.T. Wright (brought up some interesting points about Christianity being about service and Christians being active seekers; can’t remember what the “makes sense” part is all about)
37. (e) Cherry Cheesecake Murder – Joanne Fluke (movie crew comes to town and cheesecake does play a part in the mystery!)
38. Freedom – Jonathan Franzen (it took my a while to actually pick this up and then I couldn’t stop reading it; well-developed characters and amazingly developed plot; also set in Minnesota!; recommended)
39. (e) The First Eagle – Tony Hillerman (southwestern mystery set on an Indian reservation; good mystery, terribly tired love story)
40. (e) The Final Solution – Michael Chabon (short stories; worth listening to but I’m not sure if I would have made it through if reading paper book) 
41. Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks (started this book in Africa, left it in one of the hotel rooms and couldn’t finish it until I got home; historical fiction about the plague; GREAT story and one of the few I’m still thinking about long after reading it) 
42. Fierce Conversations: Achieving success at work and in life, one conversation at a time – Susan Scott (so many great tips about clear, effective communication and good, meaningful conversations at work and at home; highly recommended)
43. (e) The Right Attitude to Rain – Alexander McCall Smith (different series from Smith; older academic woman philosophizes about life and falls in love with a younger man; good story)
44. Horseman, Pass By – Larry McMurtry (read it for my book club; highly romanticized story about cowboys and the west; pretty racist and lacking female characters of any substance)
45. (e) After the Funeral – Agatha Christie (great Poirot mystery; he has the “the murderer is in this room” thing down!)
46. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir – Kao Kalia Yang (Minnesota author; great first half about Hmong refugees in Thailand, really interesting history I didn’t know anything about)
47. Death Comes to Pemberley: A Novel – P.D. James (Boyd’s Christmas present to me; mystery set at Pemberley after Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy get married; nice to be in that setting but weak plot line; I actually guessed the mystery before it was over)
48. Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness – Nan C. Merrill (fantastic book of the psalms; words God and prayer interchanged for Love and silence respectively, makes for great new take on the songs/poems of the psalms; read one each morning)

Bonus: Tanya’s Hippo Hunt – Tanya Cothran (I wrote a children’s story and set it to photos that Boyd took during our safari in Kenya! It’s a mystery story too, honoring my current favorite genre!)